New Delhi: Legendary athlete Milkha Singh has launched the 'Read India' initiative which aims to set up libraries in about 700 government-run schools to benefit over 3.5 lakh underprivileged students.

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Backed by the S. Chand Group - one of the largest educational content providers in the country - each library will start with some 400 books provided by the publishing group.

'Read India' will ensure students from kindergarten to class 8 have free access to quality books on a range of subjects -- from science and maths to general studies and general knowledge - that are normally not available in government schools.

Launching the initiative, the 'Flying Sikh' lauded the publishers for focusing on underprivileged children and hoped it would help "ignite their minds".

The initiative is estimated to cost Rs 4 crore and is supported by the Delhi chapter of Round Table India (RTI). It was launched at an RTI-supported school in north Delhi's Bhalaswa village.

Himanshu Gupta, managing director of S. Chand Group, said his company "is committed to improving the lives of millions of underprivileged childrena by giving them quality education and developing better reading and learning habits thereby accelerating the growth in the education sector".